Stacking and nesting box



Aug. 1, 1961 L. FORNAS STACKING AND NESTING BOX 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 20, 1959 INVENTOR. LEW A. Ear/45' KTTIF/VE)?! Aug. 1, 1961 L. L.FbRNAs 2,994,457

STACKING AND NESTING BOX Filed Aug. 20. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR. LfV/ L. Fay/W5 fizz,

2,994,457 STACKING AND NESTING BGX Levi L. Fornas, North Hollywood,Calif. (11776 Laurel Crest Drive, Studio City, Calif.) Filed Aug. 20,1959, Ser. No. 835,032 8 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) The present inventionrelates to an open top box or container which is adapted to be eithernested within or stacked upon another identical box or container.

One object of the invention is to provide a stacking and nesting boxformed of flexible sheet material but which is nevertheless capable ofaccommodating relatively heavy loads.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a stacking andnesting box made of lightweight flexible material and whose loadcarrying capacity is determined by the geometry of the box, rather thanmerely by the inherent strength and rigidity of the material from whichthe box is formed.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following descriptionin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the container of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of two of the containers of the invention, onebeing superimposed upon the other in a nesting relationship;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of two of the containers of the invention, onebeing stacked upon the other;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the nested containers ofFIGURE 3 taken on the line 5-5 thereof;

FIGURE 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the nested containers ofFIGURE 3 taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the stacked containers ofFIGURE 4 taken on the line 77 thereof; and

FIGURE 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the stacked containers ofFIGURE 4 taken on the line 8-3 of FIGURE 7.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the single box orcontainer illustrated in FIGURES l and 2 is designated by the letter A,while the nestably superimposed box of FIGURES 3, 5 and 6 is designatedby the letter B and the stackably superimposed box of FIGURES 4, 7 and 8is designated by the letter C. Since all of the boxes are identical,like parts are identified throughout by like reference numerals, hencein the ensuing description reference will be made to one of the boxes A,B or C only wherever a cooperative relationship of two of the boxes isinvolved in the description.

The box or container of the invention is integrally formed of flexiblesheet material which is preferably a gum plastic such as rubber-basestyrene. When made of material of this type the box or container isformed by stretching a flat sheet of the material which has previouslybeen heated to a formable temperature, the stretching of the materialbeing guided by male and female dyes which restrict the shape assumed bythe more significant portions of the ultimate structure, and thematerial then being allowed to cool after the forming process iscompleted. In accordance with the invention boxes or containers made bythe above process require only a relatively small amount of the plasticmaterial for their construction, and consequently have a relatively thinwall structure which is substantially of uniform thickness throughout.While the invention is not necessarily restricted to the use of the typeof ma- Patented Aug. 1., 1961 terial as described above, nor to theforming process described above, it Will nevertheless be understood thatthis material and this process have been utilized in forming thepresently preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustratedherein.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the box or containerof the invention comprises a body integrally formed of flexible sheetmaterial and including a substantially flat bottom 10, upwardlydiverging sidewalls 12 and 13, and upwardly diverging endwalls 14, 15.inwardly deformed portions of sidewall 12 provide upwardly tapered posts21, 22 therein, while inwardly deformed portions of sidewall 13 provideupwardly tapered posts 23, 24. The sidewalls 12, 13 and endwalls 14, 15are adapted to receive the corresponding walls of a superimposedidentical box in nesting relationship, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, 6.

When the upper box is to be stacked rather than nested it is turned inend-for-end relationship, as shown in FIGURE 4. The posts of eachsidewall of the underneath box A then stackably support bottom edgeportions at the opposite side of the superimposed or stacked box C. Thusthe post 21 of sidewall 12 of underneath box A engages a bottom edgeportion 26 on the opposite side of the stackably superimposed box C,post 22 of box A supports bottom edge portion 25 of box C, post 23 ofbox A supports bottom edge portion 28 of box C, and post 24 of box Asupports bottom edge portion 27 of box C. Thus the construction of thebox or container is such that the position of each post, and theposition of the bottom edge portion in the same box corresponding to theone in the stackably superimposed box which the post is to stackablysupport, are complementary with respect to a transverse center linedrawn at the longitudinal center of the box. That is, each post and itscorresponding bottom edge portion are the same distance from thelongitudinal center of the box, but on opposite sidewalls, and inopposite directions from the longitudinal center of the box.

It therefore follows that where a post is formed on one sidewall of thebox, in the complementary position on the opposite sidewall no post isformed, since the bottom edge portion of the box at that location mustremain in substantially its basic rectangular form in order to bestackably supported by the corresponding post of an underneath box.Although only one configuration of the posts is illustrated herein, itwill be evident that other positioning arrangements could be utilized.For example, the positions of posts 22 and 23 could be transposed withthe positions of bottom edge portions 28 and 25, respectively.

A continuous bead 30 extends around the entire upper edge of the sideand endwalls of the box. An enlargement 31a of the bead provides ahandle portion above endwall 14 while a similar enlargement 31b providesa handle portion above endwall 15. It will be noted that in FIGURE 3where box B is nested within box A the handle portions 31a, 31b of thetwo boxes are aligned at corresponding ends of the boxes, while inFIGURE 4 where box C is stacked upon box A the handle portion 31b of boxC is at the same end as handle portion 31a of box A, and vice versa.

When boxes or containers formed of relatively thin flexible sheetmaterial are heavily loaded there is a tendency for the sides thereof tobulge outwardly. Stacking is required when the boxes or containers areloaded, rather than when they are empty, and outward bulging of thesidewalls of an underneath container makes the proper stacking of one ormore superimposed containers very difficult. According to the presentinvention this problem is solved not by the use of excessive bulk of thematerial from which the box or container is formed,

but rather by means of the geometry of the boxor container itself. Morespecifically, interengaging locking means are provided-on the tops ofthe posts, and in the bottom edge portions of the boxes or'containers,for inhibiting horizontal movement of the stackably supportedsuperimposed box while simultaneously restraining the sidewalls of theunderneath box from bulging outwardly.

Details of construction of the posts, the locking means on the tops ofthe posts, and the locking means in the corresponding bottom edgeportions of the box or container, in accordance with the presentlypreferred form of the invention, will now be described.

Each post includes a flat inner wall 35 which is displaced inwardly ofthe box relative to the main portion of the side wall but issubstantially parallel thereto. The lower end of the post is providedwith vertically disposed flat sidewalls 36, 37, which extend upwardlyonly a fraction of the height of the box, and terminate in correspondingfiat shoulder portions 36a, 37a respectively. Inwardly tapered sidewalls38, 39 rise upwardly from shoulders 36a, 37a, respectively. The upperend of inner wall 35 terminates in a point or projection 45, theelevation of which is somewhat below that of bead 30. A flat ledge 41extends horizontally inwardly from bead 30 and joins a vertical wallsection 42 which extends downwardly somewhat below the elevation ofprojection 45. A flat trough bottom 43 extends from wall 42 most of theway toward inner wall 35, and then joins a sloped wall 44 which extendsupwardly to merge with the upper end of wall 35 and thus provide theprojection 45.

The locking means at each bottom edge portion 25-28, inclusive, isprovided by an inverted trough 47 having sufficient length to receivethe corresponding projection 45 of an underneath box. Trough 47 has onelongitudinal edge 48 which joins to bottom of the box, while its otherlongitudinal edge 49' merges with the corresponding sidewall, but at anelevation somewhat above that of bottom 10. The downward projectionformed at edge 49 is therefore received upon flat trough bottom 43 ofthe upper end of the corresponding post of the underneath box. SeeFIGURE 7. The wall of trough 47 adjacent edge 49, and wall 44 of thepost, provide cooperative laterally faced abutments which preventbulging of the side wall of box A.

The shoulders 36a, 37a provide a stepped bottom portion of each post,which as specifically shown in FIGURE 6 limits the extent to which thenestably superimposed box B may be downwardly inserted within theunderneath box A.

It is significant to note that in the stacking relationship asillustrated in FIGURES 4 and 7, 8, the locking means at the upper endsof the posts of the underneath box A and in the corresponding bottomedge portions of the superimposed box C perform a double function. Onefunction is to firmly anchor the superimposed box C so as to cause someof the load of the underneath box A to be carried by the superimposedbox C. More specifically, a heavy load of material in box A which tendsto cause the side walls thereof to bulge outwardly, is partiallysupported by bottom 10 of the superimposed box C which is placed intension in order to prevent the side walls of the underneath box A fromspreading apart.

Various modifications of my invention other than the form specificallyillustrated herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A stacking and nesting box comprising a body integrally formed ofrelatively thin flexible sheet material and having a substantially fiatbottom, upwardly diverging side and end walls,a plurality of inwardlydeformed portions of each side wall providing upwardly tapered posts,said side and end walls being adapted to receive the corresponding wallsof a superimposed identical box in nesting relationship, the posts ofeach side wall being adapted to stackably support opposite side bottomedge portions of an identical box when superimposed in reversedend-for-end relationship, and complementary projection and troughlocking means disposed in the top of and adjacent the base of the postsof said box, and adapted, when two of said boxes are supported one onthe other, to be engageable with their complement on the other box toconnect the top of the supporting box to the bottom lateral edges of thesupported box so as to simultaneously inhibit the horizontal movement ofthe supported box and the outward movement of the side walls of thesupporting box.

2. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 1 in which saidlocking means are provided with cooperative laterally faced abutments.

3. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 2 in which saidlocking means in said bottom edge portions are socketed and said lockingmeans on the tops of said posts are projected to be accommodated in saidiocketed means of a stackably superimposed identical 4. A stacking andnesting box as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said posts has astepped base portion for limiting the extent to which a nestablysuperimposed identical box may be inserted within said box.

5. A stacking and nesting box comprising a body integrally formed offlexible plastic sheet material and having a substantially flat bottom,upwardly diverging side and end walls, a plurality of inwardly deformedportions of each side wall providing upwardly tapered posts extending tojust below the top of the side wall, said side and end walls beingadapted to receive the corresponding walls of a superimposed identicalbox in nesting relationship, each of said posts being positioned tocorrespond to a straight section of the opposite side wall an equal andopposite distance from the longitudinal center of the box so as toengage the corresponding bottom edge portion of an identical box whenstacked upon said box in reversed end-for-end relationship, andcomplementary projection and trough locking means disposed in the topsof said posts and in the bottom edge portions adjacent the bases of saidposts, and adapted, when two of said boxes are supported one on theother, to be engageable with their complement on the other box toconnect the top of the supporting box to the bottom edge portions of thesupported box so as to simultaneously inhibit the horizontal movement ofthe supported box and the outward movement of the side walls of thesupporting box.

6. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 5 in which saidinterlock means are provided with cooperative laterally faced abutments.

7. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 6 in which said bottominterlock means are socketed and said top interlock means are projectedto be accommodated in said socketed means of a stackably superimposedidentical box.

8. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 5 in which each ofsaid posts has a stepped base portion for limiting the extent to which anestably superimposed identical box may be inserted within said box.

